These eight full-size sedans prove there’s still some life left in the segment

Full-size sedans are certainly losing popularity, but there's still a bit of growth in the segment

The gradual disappearance of the traditional full-size sedan is nothing new. Mainstream automakers have been killing off their flagship sedans for years. The shrinking number of available options occurred only after the segment underwent revolutionary surgery from traditional rear-wheel-drive, body-on frame cars — Ford was still selling the Crown Victoria less than a decade ago — to a crop of largely front-wheel-drive contenders.

But there doesn’t appear to be any revolutionary transition that could bring meaningful demand back to the large sedan category. Oh, Canadians will continue to buy big cars, but they’ll mainly be high-priced land yachts from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The days of retail customers putting down deposits for a Mitsubishi Diamante and a Hyundai Azera have long since passed.

The remaining competitors present a sad state of affairs. Curiously enough, these eight large, mainstream sedans currently on the market have combined to stall the decline, but it’s an illusion. For example, a pair of soon-to-be discontinued Detroit sedans have reported Canadian sales increases through the first 11 months of 2018 aren’t likely to even be around by this time next year. Moreover, these eight sedans combined for only 17,301 sales so far this year — that’s less than the total achieved by the Chevrolet Impala alone a dozen years ago.

These eight large sedans account for only three per cent of Canada’s fast-falling passenger car market, and less than one per cent of the overall new vehicle market. Put another way, 23 different individual vehicle nameplates — from the Ford F-Series and Honda Civic, to the the Jeep Wrangler and Volkswagen Tiguan — generate more sales volume than the entire full-size sedan segment.

The latter pair form a telling result. During a phase in which sedan demand dried up, SUVs and crossovers more than made up for the loss, driving Canada’s new vehicle demand to record highs in each of the last five years. Sales of vehicles such as the Tiguan and Wrangler — plus many more likely full-size sedan replacements — have skyrocketed. And despite an industry slowdown through much of 2018, sales of many utility vehicles continue to surge.

There is no sign of a hairpin turn back to large sedans. Demographics have shifted. Tastes have evolved. The fuel penalties associated with utility vehicles have been mitigated. Full-size sedans, while not officially dead, are certainly on life support.

8. Kia Cadenza: 76, down 35 per cent

2019 Kia CadenzaHandout /
Kia

Regardless of the way in which you examine the Kia Cadenza’s sales figures, it’s bad news. Only 76 Cadenzas have been sold across Canada so far this year. That’s only one-tenth of one per cent of all Kia Canada sales. Compared with its direct rivals, the Cadenza is also a bit player – the chronically unpopular Toyota Avalon is eight times more popular in Canada. Makes matters worse, Cadenza sales are falling. 2018 is set to be the Cadenza’s fourth year of decline in the last half-decade.

7. Toyota Avalon: 603, up 48 per cent

2019 Toyota AvalonHandout /
Toyota

Toyota is a global automotive behemoth and a giant in almost every automotive segment in Canada. But when it comes to big sedans, it might be better for Toyota to just let Lexus soak up the premium goodwill. After all, Lexus markets five different vehicle lines that are more popular than the Avalon in Canada. While Avalon volume is rising in Canada in 2018, that’s just in comparison to 2017, when sales had plunged for a fourth consecutive year. Compared with 2013, Avalon volume is now only half as strong as it was.

6. Buick LaCrosse: 632, down 27 per cent

2019 Buick LaCrosseHandout /
Buick

By every objective measurement, the current Buick LaCrosse that was introduced for the 2017 model year, is by far the best LaCrosse ever. But it’s also, by far, the least popular; the LaCrosse won’t be available for much longer thanks to a critical loss of demand. Buick sold over 14,000 LaCrosses in 2005 — then called the Allure — followed by 9,200 entering the recession in 2008, and more than 2,000 as recently as 2012. At its current rate, it would take three years for the LaCrosse to generate 2,000 sales in Canada.

5. Nissan Maxima: 1,172, down 44 per cent

2018 Nissan MaximaHandout /
Nissan

Times were already lean for the Japanese automaker when the third-generation Altima moved into the Nissan Maxima’s territory in 2002. Supersized and powered up, the third-generation Altima minimized the Maxima’s unique appeal. However, Nissan persisted with the Maxima and while sales of the existing, eighth-generation car are nosediving, the newest Altima has dropped its V6 engine and added all-wheel drive, further distinguishing Nissan’s two bigger sedans. It likely won’t be much of a help to the Maxima, as Canadian sales have fallen 75-per cent over the last 15 years.

4. Ford Taurus: 2,750, up 3 per cent

2018 Ford TaurusHandout /
Ford

Boosted by demand for Police Interceptors and daily rental vehicles, the Ford Taurus’ long sales plunge has stalled in Canada. Yet it’s all for naught — Ford Canada is done with the Taurus, just as its done with the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion and C-Max. At one point, the Taurus was a vital component to the Ford family in North America. But then the Fusion stepped in to fill its role, then Ford killed the Taurus nameplate only to revive it again a decade ago. As recently as 2004, Ford Canada reported 24,424 Taurus sales. That’s roughly the number of Taurus sedans Ford has sold in the last seven years combined.

3. Chrysler 300: 3,498, down 9 per cent

2019 Chrysler 300CHandout /
Chrysler

The Chrysler 300’s arrival in 2004 took the full-size sedan back to its roots with rear-wheel-drive architecture (incidentally borrowed from Mercedes-Benz) and bold styling. At first, it was hugely successful. Chrysler sold nearly 15,000 300s in 2005. But 300 sales then declined in 10 of the 13 successive years. Volume is now 74 per cent lower than it was at its 2005 peak.

2. Chevrolet Impala: 3,715, up 25 per cent

2018 Chevrolet ImpalaHandout /
Chevrolet

If you need proof that the collapsing sedan market isn’t a flash-in-the-pan trend, consider GM’s leading full-size sedan nameplate. Set to be discontinued shortly, the Chevrolet Impala’s brief flirtation with year-over-year sales improvements in 2017 and 2018 come after multiple generations of progressively worse failure. A dozen years ago, more than 21,000 Impalas were sold in Canada. But Impala sales then declined in 2007, all the way through 2016.

1. Dodge Charger: 4,855, up 11 per cent

2018 Dodge ChargerHandout /
Dodge

Not only is the Dodge Charger Canada’s best-selling full-size sedan, Charger sales are on the up and up, as 2018 is set to be the Charger’s best year in a decade. Granted, like other full-size sedans, demand is artificially inflated by sales to daily rental providers. And like the Taurus, the Charger is boosted by demand from police forces. Retail demand is another story, and the lack of such demand for the Charger and its cohorts explains the disappearance of some Charger competitors and FCA’s long-running determination to let the Charger linger as is. Aside from consistently more powerful and costly Chargers, the underpinnings of this car have remained the same since 2011.